Trail Camera


Hoytman66

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Not as concerned with battery life as I am with getting pics of different bucks.  I have mine set to take as many pics as fast as they can.  Reason being too many times I have seen 3 or 4 bucks that have been around the camera at almost the same time, within seconds of each other.  With the longer span between triggers you will miss seeing some deer.  Whole point in running cams on our place is to give us a realistic idea of what is around, so I don't want to miss bucks at my cams if I can help it. 

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Not as concerned with battery life as I am with getting pics of different bucks.  I have mine set to take as many pics as fast as they can.  Reason being too many times I have seen 3 or 4 bucks that have been around the camera at almost the same time, within seconds of each other.  With the longer span between triggers you will miss seeing some deer.  Whole point in running cams on our place is to give us a realistic idea of what is around, so I don't want to miss bucks at my cams if I can help it. 

Thanks!!
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The delay and number of pics in a burst depends on the set up more than anything else.  I don't care about battery life but I only use lithium ion batteries.  All my cams take AA's.  Almost all of our cams are Reconyx cams (14 of them) but I also have one Browning cam now.  My buddy and I have 10 Reconyx cams (5 each) we use in Missouri and I use my other 5 cams where I hunt in Mississippi.  The Reconyx cams take 12 AA batteries and by using lithium ion batteries they will easily run for an entire season (from mid July through the season) and still have battery life to spare.  I have had a set of batteries last up to 15 months.  I bought the Browning cam this past November and if I remember correctly the Browning cam takes 6 AA batteries.

If I'm setting a cam on a trail I don't want it to miss a thing.  I set the Reconyx cam on its "Trail" setting.  On that setting it takes a 3 pic blast 0.5 seconds apart and has no delay time before it can be tripped again.  I don't want to miss anything on a trail.  If I set on a food source or a mineral lick, I have it set to take a 3 pics, 5 seconds apart with a 15 second delay before it can be tripped again.  When I set on a scrape I have it set to take 5 pics, 5 seconds apart with a 5 second delay.  On rare occasions on food sources I'll back off to a longer delay between trips since deer are more likely to hang around feeding anyway.  When rutting activity cranks up, the delay time between trips is never over 5 seconds and likely set at the shortest time delay.  Obviously deer can pass by in a flash during that time of the season and many times there's more than one.  Good chance the 2nd deer to pass by is the buck you want the pic of too.

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BTW...I know lithium ion batteries are expensive, especially with the number of cams I run.  I buy them in bulk on line from Battery Junction.  By doing that, they cost me $1.45/battery for the same ones I can buy locally.  By buying them in bulk with the amount I order, the shipping is free.  If I buy them at a local store, an 8 pack is $18.99 excluding tax.  Sales tax here is 7% so add another $1.33/8 pack.  That makes the cost buying them locally ~$2.54/battery.  That's too big of a cost savings to pass up.

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  • 4 months later...

I use lithium batteries in the majority of cameras. I like to have my pics set to 2 or 3 rapid/burst when triggered, especially on a trail. If it's a feeding spot I'll do 1 or 2 with a delay between. Depends also what settings the specific camera can do. Just make sure there is nothing like weeds or branches to trigger or camera or you'll end up with a few hundred photos of such,

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know that wireless cameras are becoming more and more popular. I wouldn't spend the money on one until recently when I moved over an hour away from my hunting spot. Driving 2 hours roundtrip and the use of gas would be too much. So I looked into a wireless trail camera. Apparently at first they were hard to set up but now in 2015 they are much easier. I talked to a guy at an archery store who's got 3 Covert Black Ops and loves them. He's used them for 3 years. 

I went started researching them and looked at https://hunthacks.com/best-cellular-wireless-trail-camera/ and found that the Covert Black Ops and HCO Spartan cameras basically scored the same and both scored very well. Trail Camera Pro has great customer service and helped me choose which camera to get. 

The reason I went with the HCO Spartan was because it had a premium service that allows you to get larger pictures in HD (1280 x 960 vs. 640 x 480) and they also have a cloud type feature to store your photos. You can also change the settings on the camera from your computer or cellphone which is nice. It also comes with a 2 year warranty.

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